Movie Review: Dibakar Banerjee’s Shanghai

Shanghai is a film that dares to challenge the conventions of its genre. The movieis a basic but intense political thriller that is under-wired with intelligence and courage, both cinematic and ideological. After its release within the first week Shanghai received a lot of appreciation. All the social media platforms started to overflow with posts and tweets on Shanghai with people going gaga over the movie.

Shanghai was also wellreceived by all the well known critics. In his review, Taran Adarsh said,

“Shanghai is a serious motion picture with a voice that makes you think, that makes a stunning impact.”

The positive response towards Shanghai and its famous song Bharat Mata Ki Jai can be tracked across the social media platforms. Shanghai as a movie has explored a niche genre and left the audiences with a new cinematic experience, where movies can be beyond entertainment.

Dibakar Banerjee’s line of work lies in craft films that make more than just attention-grabbing noise. In each of his three previous films (Khosla Ka Ghosla, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye and Love Sex aur Dhokha), he addressed an issue of contemporary relevance without any self-satisfied intimidate or unseemly chest-thumping. Dibakar Banerjee has consistently raised the bar with each of his releases.

His latest film Shanghai demonstrates much the same restraint, besides a touch of ironic humor, as it expresses a sense of indignation that is far more acute and intense than it has ever been before in his work.